Rendering in SketchUp

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Chapter 16: Advanced Detailing
Fig. 16.3: 
Instead of using a roof texture for the individual clay roof tiles, the roofing tile is modeled and 
placed around the roof.
Fig. 16.4: 
Rendering of the modeled roof tiles (Shaderlight)

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Part 3: Modeling Detail
Fig. 16.5: 
The individual paving tiles are modeled and extruded (model by John Palmer).
Fig. 16.6: 
The rendered version of the modeled paving is more realistic than a textured version (Shaderlight).

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Chapter 16: Advanced Detailing
The following steps illustrate how this technique can be applied. Although it’s specific to 
wood material, the method is the same for other textures.
1. 
Apply a texture to the model surface. Make sure that it is correctly scaled (Fig. 16.7).
2. 
Subdivide the surface of the wood at the wood gaps, the areas where a joint appears 
between the planks of the wood in the flooring (Fig. 16.8).
3. 
Copy and array the edges that subdivide the joint/gap along the surface of the texture. 
Align the copies with the other joints and gaps (Fig. 16.9, Fig. 16.10).
4. 
Select each subdivided wood face (the larger areas between the joints), right-click over 
it, and choose Make separate surface into a group; in the example, each plank of wood 
will be made into its own group (Fig. 16.11).
5. 
Enter each group instance and extrude the surface upward (in this case, 1
g
or 2
g
), 
adding thickness and creating a wood plank. The gap between each plank will become 
more pronounced as it remains flat (unextruded) relative to each wood plank group 
(Fig. 16.12).
6. 
When extruding the groups, vary each group slightly in height to create a subtle, uneven 
look common with real-world flooring and materials (Fig. 16.13, Fig. 16.14).